The Immutable Life of Lily Evans
by ThatGirl701
Summary: "You don't find love, it finds you. It's got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, and what's written in the stars." For Lily Evans, all it took was a knock on a door.
1. Prologue

**Title: The Immutable Life of Lily Evans**

 **Author: ThatGirl701**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing Jon Snow.**

 **Author's Notes: THIS IS MY FIRST FIC SO TRY TO BE NICE. Thank you for reading this...its gonna be one hell of a journey, I can assure you of that.**

 **Prologue**

It all began with a knock on a door.

Not just any old door. No, the door this all important knock occurred was on the newly painted entrance of 11 Wendt Avenue, at exactly 7:51am, Thursday July 1st, 1971, in the middle of breakfast at the Evans'.

It was, for Lily Evans, both the start and the end. It was the opening of an existence she barely knew of, fresh and raw and real. Something so new, so full of shock and colour it was overwhelming. But it was real.

Yet, it was indeed the end of a life overflowing with warmth and memories. And the ending of a relationship both Evans' sisters would come to mourn in time. But that is another story for another day. For this is the story of a young girl, whose life changed with a knock on a door.

…

A sharp thump on the door signaled the morning mail had arrived. With overt lethargy, a weary Mr. Evans left the comfort of his sunlit kitchen to voyage down the hall to collect the bills, invoices and arduous essays his aging, and apparently terminally displeased mother sent him every other day. And that, dear reader, was when it started. Approaching the door, Mr. Evans noticed with tired eyes, a lack of mail on the thick carpet. It dawned on him then, in a smother of realisation, that someone was at the door. Shuffling slowly to open it and muttering to himself "what the bloody hell can someone want this early in the morning?", Mr. Evans was seemingly ignorant to the muffled chattering of his two daughters, most certainly discussing what the coming day of holidays would involve. However, his sluggish pace was not from exhaustion, but apprehension. A rough night had not combatted him to face an angry neighbor complaining about the dog again. Little did he know, however, the person on the other side was far from an elderly man with nothing better to do.

Reaching the door, Mr. Evans let out a jagged breath, but despite his apparent tiredness, clasped the brass door-handle with a firm grip. Swinging it open, he was startled to see a smiling young, blonde woman wearing the most eccentric collection of clothes he had ever seen. "Hello", the woman said enthusiastically. In her yellow and red striped top, neon green jeans and worn Chuck Taylors, topped only with a crocheted rainbow hat, she looked absolutely ridiculous, yet, blissfully unaware the strangeness of her apparel.

Mr. Evans simply stared.

"Sir, are you alright?" she asked, her bright demeanor slipping into puzzlement.

"Yes, yes, sorry, err, what can I do for you?" said Mr. Evans.

"Hi I'm Aviva Pondry and I'm looking for a Mr. Andrew, Jessica and Lily Evans?" she said, smile returning to her face. It was at this moment, his heart started beating fast. What did this woman want with his family? Even worse, why was Petunia left out? Faltering for a moment, Mr. Evans glanced down the street. It was a normal day, sun shining, birds chirping, little movement in the sleepy neighborhood, and yet...

"Yes I'm Andrew...", his voice drifted.

"Excellent! It's very nice to meet you Mr. Evans!" she said fervently as she offered her hand, and Andrew Evans, with a weary smile, took it.

"Andrew is fine, thanks . Can I help you with anything Ms. Pondary?" he asked again.

"Pondry, and yes there is actually. Do you mind if I come in? I should like to do this in private…I think you will agree the street, in all of its glory, is not the place to discuss matters of the family" she whispered the last part in, still, a merry voice. Andrew Evans looked around and started to nod. Although this woman was awfully blunt, and was starting to irritate him, he agreed. The street was not the place to confer with him about whatever she needed to talk about.

"Erm, right, yes come in come in" Mr. Evans began to turn, but something stopped him. "Actually, hang on, what was this about again?", Mr. Evans asked. His brain was over-tired and his sleepy disposition was not making the situation easier.

Aviva Pondry hesitated before responding, as if unsure about how to answer. "Your youngest daughter, Lily. She is one special kid". That was all she said, but to Mr. Evans of 11 Wendt Avenue, that was all he needed. And with that, he beckoned her in.

…

There are four things you need to know, dear reader, about our Mr. Evans. The first, and most important, is that he is truly, a man of few words. He is someone who takes the backseat in almost all conversations and someone who is, arguably, always the quietest man in the room. He enjoys the mere act of listening. To watch a person's face while they talk, to take it all in, to hear the sound of their words and the meaning behind them. He was not, and would never be a talker.

The second, and the one I know you are questioning right now, is his incessant and unique ability to read people. Andrew Evans was a person whose silent temperament was often mistook for being a man highly guarded at all times. This, reader, could not be more far from the truth. Over the years of listening and watching, Mr. Evans acquired, developed and refined to a fault, a singular skill of understanding a person by a mere glance. Not only that, Mr. Evans is a very intelligent person. These two qualities make his ability quite lethal. He is not one for liars, and values honesty and integrity above all else. Although, I will admit, today he is a bit off. He had a rough night.

The third is that, despite his incredible gift, he largely chooses to ignore what he sees. When I say ignore, I mean to say that his optimism gets in the way. He is a man who only ever saw, selective or not, the best in people. An attitude of great optimism mixed with quiet anticipation, Mr. Evans was a person who demanded the worth and value from everybody. Perhaps it was his inherent humanity, or perhaps it was, in his years of observing his fellow humans, it seemed only fair to give people the benefit of the doubt, but Mr. Evans could not help it. He whole-heartedly believed that there was good in everyone.

It was this that made him a highly likable individual. The curious concoction of a no-bullshit attitude and unfounded optimism, laced heavily with the humour only a quiet man could possess, created an alluringly interesting personality. Mr Evans was friends with almost everybody, and greater still, to Petunia and Lily, a perfectly wonderful father. However, Lily and her father were exceptionally close. Mr Evans loved Lily's humour and stubborn nature; it made her excellent at a bit of dinnertime banter. Likewise, Lily worshipped her father. Their relationship was something of a friendship rather than that of parent and child. Their bond was built on mutual trust and respect, and both were the better for it.

And the fourth and final thing to know about our Mr. Evans of 11 Wendt Avenue, was that his wife was dying.

…

"Err, can I get you anything?" Andrew Evans asked sheepishly to the blonde woman now sitting across from his youngest daughter. The tiny kitchen, homely and simple, had a quaint feel to it. Lemon yellow walls with white trim held photographs of life through the eyes of the Evans's. Scattered in no particular order throughout the room, pictures of two girls growing up through the years, with the occasional appearance of their doting parents. One particularly large one, next to the window, showed a tall, willowy woman, with kind eyes and a natural smile, looking adoringly at her fresh-faced, lively husband playing with their two daughters. Petunia and Lily, dancing around him, looked as if to be in a state of total euphoria. It was this photo Aviva Pondry was examining with fascination when Mr. Evans interrupted her train of thought.

"Oh, no thank-you, I've already eaten" she said ceremoniously. Looking back at the girl in front of her Aviva smiled kindly. "Is Ms. Evans here? I would like to do this with both parents present if possible" she said. Mr. Evans face dropped incrementally, but Aviva picked up on it immediately. A hint of red nudged at her cheeks as Mr. Evans started to stumble through an explanation.

"Err, she erm, she is not home, at the moment, err, unfortunately, she is sick, you see…" he said. Aviva lowered her eyes and looked at the scrubbed wooden floor. All of the photos around the room showed a happy, loving family. That was the thing about frankness, Aviva thought to herself, sometimes it can put you in a spot of bother.

"…I can tell her, I guess but yes, no she isn't here…" Mr. Evans finished. Aviva slowly looked back at him. With an uncomfortable confidence she met his tired eyes and, for a second, she saw immense pain behind his green irises. With a quick nod of her head, Aviva glanced at Lily, who was sitting with a passive yet, not entirely emotionless look on her face. Sadness was creeping into her little face, but had not yet settled to become a permanent occupant. _Lucky,_ Aviva thought. There was time.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Evans, I really am. I didn't realise… Should I come back later or…?" Aviva blundered out. Her usual composed and unruffled character was crumbling. This was going to be a hard one.

"No, no it's fine. Stay, I'll talk to her about it later. Honest" Mr. Evans said, arms up, proving to her that he was being truthful.

"OK… ok. Alright, well, I may as well stay. There's no point wasting time, you know. Mr Evans, you may want to be sitting down. Alright, good, thank you…". It continued like this for a while. Aviva was obviously thrown, and the quiet of both Mr. Evans and Lily was encouraging her to ramble. _Pull yourself together_ Aviva thought. Now was not the time to jabber on.

Eventually she got there. "As I mentioned before, I am Aviva Pondry, and I am here, on the behalf of both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to inform the both of you that Miss Lily Evans is a witch". Confusion was the only word that could describe was Aviva saw. Usually, Aviva would be to-the-point, but delicately and with as much sensitivity as she could muster. Her positive attitude and blunt way of speaking made her the best at her job. But even the greats can fall from the top. And Aviva wasn't falling, she was plummeting.

Mr. Evans, was, as I said before, a man of few words and this situation was no different. Shock was clearly plastered on his face; Aviva's own face told him that. Yet he stayed silent, taking what she had said in. She was telling the truth, he could tell by the way she held herself through the short statement; with a firmness and finality in a voice, and decency in her posture. _Maybe she's crazy…_ Mr. Evans thought. Her clothes were horrid and she seemed unusually perky for someone who had evidently risen early to come to their house. _Maybe_ …. Mr. Evans glanced sideways at Lily. The flush on her cheeks and the guilty, yet stifled look in her eyes told him everything. She knew something he didn't.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry, that did not at all come out like I intended it to. I am so sorry" Aviva started. She looked at Lily, who despite everything, did not have a hint of shock on her face. In fact, Aviva thought she saw something there that she didn't expect. "You already knew" Aviva said, her mouth slowly forming into a smile. Lily matched Aviva's expression.

"Yes, well kind of…yes I knew" she said, grin getting wider with each word. She turned and look up at her father, who also did not look as shocked as Aviva thought he would have. At this point, there was usually question after question. A look between Mr. Evans and Lily told Aviva that a silent confession, forgiveness and recognition had taken place within a matter of seconds. Mr. Evans, who felt that he should be angry or hurt started to say something, but thought the better of it. He'd had a rough night, in the sake of his utter and immaculate honesty, the one person Mr Evans had never been truly angry with in the entirety of his existence was the girl with long auburn hair and emerald green eyes sitting in front of him with a cheeky smile on her freckled face. He knew then what he had to do.

"So, when does school start?".

 **THANK YOU FOR READING. It was a bit slow but hopefully you stick around! Leave a message and I'll see you soon.**


	2. The Anatomy of How It Goes

**The Immutable Life of Lily Evans**

 **Disclaimer: Ro Jo is my ho. But she actually is.**

 **Author's Notes: SORRY FOR THE WAIT. I REALLY AM. School and Holidaying got in the way. I feel really bad! I hope you like it. ALSO, Thank you so much to _morganna12_ and _James Birdsong_ for their lovely comments! I hope that I make you guys proud. **

**The Anatomy of How It Goes**

Rather brazenly, Lily Evans, despite her anger, climbed through the portrait with as much dignity and grace as she could. So that was it, Lily thought to herself, the end of what actually turned out to be, a rather ugly friendship. Dear reader, indeed it was. Forcing herself not to turn around and look at him, she waited for the portrait door to swing shut before collapsing in a heap. Tears stung her eyes as she sobbed on the ground. Dramatic, yes, but to Lily Evans of 11 Wendt Avenue, it was most necessary. She couldn't even walk. The pain of the day had completely drained her. You see, not only had Lily just, willingly I might add, lost her best friend, but that said person had called her the most derogatory and insulting term he could have used while she was defending him. Severus Snape royally fucked up. To top it off, her self-professed worst enemy, a Mr James Potter, had decided to publicly humiliate the said best friend just after their Transfiguration exam. _Actually no_ , Lily thought sullenly, still lying on the floor, _the cherry on the foul cake was that I had just failed the exam._ The worst end to the worst year of her life, Lily thought, crying into a mess of hair and limbs.

"Evans?" a voice called through the dim light of the Gryffindor Common Room. Lily sat up quickly, knowing immediately whose voice it was.

James Potter.

James. Fucking. Potter.

If looks could kill, James would have been a dead man.

Lily, in all of her misery, had managed to lift herself up, wiping away the tears and hair that clung to her damp face. There he was, wearing his pajamas, hair messier than usual and glasses lopsided, as though he had fallen asleep wearing them, and looking straight at Lily with what she was certain was concern. No hint of a smirk or mockery on, what Lily had to admit, was a very handsome face. But at this point of time, at 2:16 am, the early hours of what was going to be a fine Wednesday, Lily Evans was not admiring (from afar of course) his roguish good looks. No our Lily Evans, the very same girl who once stood in her kitchen looking up at her dad with a mischievous grin on her face, was preparing to full-on attack Mr Potter. At least she would have, if it wasn't for her extreme tiredness.

Eyes still watery, Lily looked James in the face. "Potter, what the fuck do you want? You are the last person I want to talk to right now, but I'll make it easy for you. Leave this very second or I will punch that pretty nose of yours so hard, your ugly glasses will fall off" Lily said in a tone that would have curdled blood, but the voice cracks, and the fact that she sat, and therefore sunk into a plush chair by the fire as she was talking, right beside James, stopped her from sounding anywhere near menacing. It was this complete lack of conviction that kept him in his seat. So tonight was a night of firsts; the first night James had ever heard Lily swear and the first night Lily had ever willingly remained in a room, all by herself, with James Potter.

"You think my nose is pretty?" James said lightly. Lily felt heat rushing to cheeks. Luckily though, the orange glow of the fire covered the blush and Lily was saved.

"No, but most the girls here think so, and for that matter, probably a quarter of the boys do as well. I was merely going off the feelings of the general population" Lily said, eyes glazing as she stared into the fire. Good recovery.

"Ah, I see. Well, they're only human" James said, also looking into the fire. The mood, despite everything, was fairly comfortable. Perhaps it was James' uncanny ability to keep conversation effortless for both parties, perhaps it was Lily's over-tired brain, or perhaps it was a combination of both, but neither felt awkward. At least until…

"Oh, and MacDonald went to bed. She wanted me to tell you" James said quietly.

It was this simple sentence that knocked some sense into Lily's disastrously confused, wearied head. "Potter, I hope you know how angry I am at you" Lily said softly, not taking her eyes of the hypnotising flames. Likewise, James was transfixed by the ever changing fire, tendrils of smoke rising, curling around nothing but air. "What you did, that was the vilest, most horrid and, quite frankly, humiliating thing you could have ever done to a person. What the hell were you thinking" Lily wasn't looking at the fire anymore. Instead she turned to face James, who blinked and slowly dragged his eyes from the fire to Lily's face. It seemed that the shock and sadness over her conversation with Severus had been replaced with anger towards a certain 16-year-old boy sitting next to her. Green met hazel and a collision of emotion crashed through the two people sitting in the squishy Gryffindor armchairs at exactly 2:19am.

"Evans I-" James began.

"Save it, Potter" Lily said, voice thick with venom. James felt, that if her first look at him didn't kill him, he was definitely going to die now. "I am" she said, slowly rising, rage encroaching on her once placid face "overwhelmingly angry at you". Her voice was getting loud now and James' face paled. "I am disgusted that you would do something like that" she spat out. Leaning down, she picked up a pillow and threw it at him. James, raised his arms as a shield.

"I'm sor-" James started again as he stood up.

"No, you listen to me" Lily said, hurling another pillow at him. Her tone was actually now curdling James's blood. This was not going to end well. "I cannot _believe_ you! Who pulls shit like that?". Her voice was loud now. James thought that if she spoke any more vehemently, people would start to wake up. "I am so mad at you I could kill you. Fuck you James!" Lily yelled, picking up a book someone had left behind on the arm of her couch. At this point, two thoughts were going through James' head. One, was that she called him James. If he wasn't facing certain death, and if it wasn't preceded by 'fuck you', he could die happily. But unfortunately for James, both were true. The second was him making his final goodbyes. _So this is how I die,_ James thought to himself as he ducked the book Lily had just flung at him; _with Evans murdering me in the Gryffindor common room_.

"HOW COULD YOU?" Lily screamed, tears now falling fast. She whipped around, searching desperately for her wand. In her madness, she forgot that she had left it in her dormitory after Mary told her about Severus waiting outside the portrait. Frustration mixed with rage, James decided, as Lily stopped hunting for whatever she was looking for, was not a good blend. Eyes frenzied and streaming with tears, she looked straight at him. For a moment, James thought that she had given up. But James was about as observant as a table. He didn't see Lily curling her fist, or her mouth turning into a sneer, or that people had come down the stairs to see all the commotion. And as sudden as thunder, Lily Evans threw herself at James Potter and punched his pretty nose so hard, his glasses fell off.

…

There are three things, reader, that are imperative to know about Lily Evans. Firstly, Miss Evans hates, with an ardent and fervent passion, James Potter. Since their very first meeting, nearly 6 years ago, in what is now known as the 'Marauders Cabin' on the Hogwarts Express, Lily had an immense disliking for him. It was funny, actually, Lily was a very popular girl. She had friends throughout the houses and grades and was, herself, a highly likeable individual, and, to the dismay of everyone around her, liked James Potter's three best friends, Sirius, Remus and Peter very much.

Actually, Lily had genuine friendships with each of the boys. She frequented the library with Remus to study Astronomy every Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and was often his partner for Prefect rounds. Sirius and her shared what they called a 'mutual tolerance' for each other, and were known to rise early together to jog around the grounds before breakfast, on what was commonly referred to as the Evans-Black Hogwarts Dash. Lily's stubbornness and Sirius's determination to have _something_ over Lily often led to one attempting to beat the other back to the Entrance Hall doors. It usually ended disaster. Once, both actually ended up in the hospital wing, but that is a story for another time. Even Lily and Peter liked each other, with their common ground being a shared unhealthy obsession with treacle tart. Any given evening, Peter and Lily would avidly discuss the many merits that treacle tart had over any other desert on offer that night. Lily even went as far as to argue with students who might utter a small belittlement of the sweet treat, with Peter on occasion, supporting Lily in her attempt to convert every person she came across to appreciate the superiority of treacle tart as the world's best meal.

However, Lily loathed James. Was it his arrogant stride, equal popularity to her, his natural intelligence or his flair for trouble-making? Was it his own hatred for Severus Snape, a boy, Lily had, only hours before, very much admired and valued? Or was it, as many silently reasoned, that Lily actually liked James Potter, and more than just a friend? I guess, reader, we will never truly know why Lily Evans hated James Potter so much. But she did, and that was that.

The second thing you must know about Lily is that she does, contradicting everything I have just said above, think that James Potter is good-looking. I mean, she was just a hormonal teenage girl who had eyes, like most of the girls, and a solid percentage of the boys at Hogwarts.

And the third, and most important thing to know about Lily Evans is that, exactly 4 months to the day, her mother died, after a rather lengthy battle with cancer. So it was, as she thought just moments ago, lying on the ground, the worst end to the worst year of her life.

…

"I will only fix it if you tell me truthfully how it happened" Madame Pomfrey said sternly to James Potter, who could hardly talk without spraying blood over everything within a metre of him. James, who was sitting on a bed, clutching his nose, trying not to wince, was looking everywhere except at the young matron. It was the first time Lily had ever seen him lost for words. Second time, if you count after she punched him full in the face.

"Madame Pomfrey, I told you, I fell over going down the stairs to the toilet" James said innocently, finally looking at the nurse. She stared at him for a couple of seconds before turning her attention to Lily, who was standing silently beside James.

"And you found him how…?" Madame Pomfrey said cautiously.

"I heard a noise, I'm a light sleeper you know, and I went down, and heaps of other people were down there as well, because, er, umm-"

"It's the end of term and they were probably studying".

"Yeah, studying and, erm, he was just lying there, because of the fall-".

"The fall, yeah. It was a pretty bad fall".

"-and I got him up and now we're here" Lily finished. It was weak and all three of them knew it but Madame Pomfrey nonetheless fixed James's nose, not before giving both of them knowing looks as if to say, _I know you're lying._

"Mr Potter, you'll be staying here for the rest of the evening, so I can watch over you to make sure everything is ok" Madame Pomfrey said as she cleaned up James's face.

"But-" James started.

"No buts. You're staying overnight. Miss Evans you have five minutes and then I expect that you will be making your way back to your dormitory, yes?" Madame Pomfrey said firmly. Looking at the both of them with an oddly incredulous face, she turned and disappeared into the dark of the hospital wing. Silence ensued. James turned on the bed to look at Lily, scanning her face, which was turning a violent shade of red as the silence turned awkward.

"So…" James began.

"So…" Lily said back. Both were staring at each other, unsure of what to do next. "I'm sorry Potter" Lily offered feebly. James shook his head. "No I am, I am. I shouldn't have done that. I feel really bad".

"It's fine. I had it coming" James said to her.

"You did. But I do feel awful about it." Lily mumbled, worry creeping into her face.

"Evans, its ok. Really" James asserted. A small smile formed as a sort of offering. Lily took it.

"I'm still mad at you" Lily said dramatically, as her offering back to the boy.

Matching her tone, James responded, "So we're back to where we started?".

"I suppose. I'll admit though, I quite liked throwing books at your big head" Lily declared.

"And I enjoyed ducking. Good practice for Quidditch. It's lucky actually, because I missed out on practice tonight because of McGonagall's detention" James replied.

"Very lucky" Lily said jokingly. Neither spoke for a couple of seconds. It would seem that both were either tired or content. "Alright, I better head off or else I'll get detention".

"I'm pretty sure you'll already get a detention for breaking my nose" James laughed.

"You think so?" Lily started to panic.

"No, I'm sure the 20 bystanders won't say anything to anyone" James flippantly informed her, a teasing glint in his eye.

"Oh _shit._ I punched you in the face, I am so sorry" Lily whispered. James just laughed.

"Evans, it's fine, honestly. I'm the one who should be sorry. And you know what? If you do end up getting a detention, at least you'll have me and my pretty nose there. I'm 99% I've got detentions for the next 10 years after this afternoon" James said. Lily looked morosely at him.

"Wow, that makes me feel loads better. Thanks James" Lily said sarcastically.

"So we're on a first name basis now? I guess we aren't back to where we started from" James questioned. Lily fumbled before eventually spilling out a response.

"Well, no, it just came out. Oh shut up, _honestly"_ Lily hissed, seeing the gleeful look on James's face. "I really have to go now. Goodbye" Lily said, with an intense look of determination on her red face. James, still laughing quietly, saluted her mockingly. And with that, she turned around, forcing herself not to look back at the smiling boy. _I hate him_ Lily murmured under her breathe as she made her way out of the hospital wing and into the gloomy corridors. But for the first time, perhaps ever, she didn't really mean it.

 **Thanks for reading! I hoped that you enjoyed it. Please review, even if you thinks its terrible. Actually, if you think its terrible, DEFINITELY review! Anyway I promise that this turnaround will be quicker but I'm pretty sure that's what all fic writers say. Anyway... THANK YOU and have the best day imaginable.**


	3. It Was Maddening

**Title: The Immutable Life of Lily Evans**

 **Author: ThatGirl701**

 **Disclaimer: All rights and royalties go to none other than our very own JK Rowling!**

 **Author's Notes: Sorry about the wait guys! I tried to make this chapter a little longer than the first two, but I'll attempt to make the coming ones longer. I hope that you enjoy this chapter!**

 **It Was Maddening**

News travels fast at Hogwarts. So fast in fact, that, hypothetically, if a certain girl were to punch a certain boy in the nose and accompany him down to the hospital wing to get it fixed at 2:29am on what was going to a quite a fine Wednesday, the whole school would find out even before breakfast began at 5:30am, exactly 3 hrs and 1 minute after the said incident. Hypothetically.

Unfortunately, for Lily Evans, this was not a confounded mishap that some poor Hufflepuff soul had gotten themselves into. No, dear reader, Lily was, for once in her relatively uneventful life (her words, certainly not mine), the subject of school gossip that directly referred to something she had done. Unbeknownst to her, Lily Evans was actually at the peak of her fame. Not only had she shouted at James Potter in front of everyone but Severus Snape had called her a mudblood and half the school heard it. He then waited outside the Gryffindor common room throughout the night for Lily, who proceeded to blow up at him and curse him with an Eye-Itch Hex, which is why his eyes were red and puffy. Lily then went back into the common room, only to assault Potter, break his ribs, nose and right cheekbone before taking him to the hospital wing to cover up what happened. All speculation, of course.

It was not the first time Lily had been the focus of school conversation, however. James's love of asking Lily out on dates throughout the years, each getting more and more extravagantly ostentatious than the one before, created many memorable dinner time discussions. And as Lily and James's popularity grew over time, many began to wonder whether Lily actually liked James. And so commenced what would be Hogwarts' largest underground bet, with students, both past and present, gambling money on what the ultimate fate of James and Lily was to be. It was a rather grandiose affair, to be perfectly honest. Many bets were taken as to when, where and how James would next ask Lily out and what shade of red her face would turn when he did, what the reason would be for Lily shouting at James in the halls the next time it unavoidably happened, how long Lily would take to give in (if she ever did) and smaller things like, when they would start calling each other by their first names, who would be the instigator of the fortnightly Potter-Evans screaming match, usually taken place in the court yard, but people often gambled away their weekly allowance on where it would occur; all culminating to the big question- were James Potter and Lily Evans ever going to go out.

Lily should have seen the stories coming. It was inevitable, really, that rumours would spread, people would talk, and the real events would be so misconstrued that the actual happenings were no longer recognisable. For that was life at Hogwarts; a day-to-day aversion of primary gossipers. But she didn't see it coming. For Lily Evans, it was just another day, albeit, one where she had to face Potter after punching him in the nose. But all in all, it was looking swell. That is, until she woke up.

Hurried, unintelligible whispers were the first things Lily was aware of when she awoke. Opening her eyes blearily, Lily got quite a shock when her four best friends immediately, upon noticing her arrival into the world of the awake, turned their murmurs into yelling and screaming, the message however remained nebulous and obscure.

"LILY!"

"WHAT HAPPE-"

"WE SAW YOU-"

"PUNCH JAMES."

"AND THEN YOU WERE GONE."

"Gone. Just like that!"

"What happened?"

"Why, Lil, why?"

"TELL. US. EVERYTHING."

…

Reader, I hope that you do not mind if I quickly digress from the main story to discuss the four best friends, confidants and fellow Gryffindor dormitory dwellers of none other than Lily Evans.

In no particular order I present to you Dorcas Meadowes, Isabella Walsh, Mavis Erikson and Mary MacDonald.

Best Friend 1. Dorcas Meadowes, or Dor, as her friends commonly call her, is an unabashedly blunt, oft harsh DADA extraordinaire. Many, sometimes including her close friends, are afraid of her, which makes her a killer on the Quidditch pitch and even more so in the halls of Hogwarts. Dorcas is fiercely loyal to those of who have the rare honour of being her friend, and loyally fierce to those who dare to cross her. She's someone with a very stony exterior, but is unfailingly caring and generous on the inside. A true Gryffindor.

Best Friend 2. Isabella Walsh, is, and always has been, Lily's very best friend. Izzy was the first person Lily met outside of the Marauders and Severus, thus creating a life-long friendship. Singularly kind, bubbly and brilliantly animated, Izzy has a zest for life, and is on a constant journey to self-fulfilment, in which she drags Lily along for the ride. While she has not the fright factor that Dorcas carries with pride, they certainly share a knack for getting up to no good, (although never rivalling their male Gryffindor counterparts), and Lily often finds herself in precarious situations due to her friends' inability to sit still.

Best Friend 3. Mavis Erikson is undoubtedly the quietest, yet most important member of the group. Although not one to be idle, Mavis's introverted ways tend to be seen as boring and from the outside, she would seem to be the loner of the party. Despite this popular opinion, Mavis is the pinnacle of the group, the glue, the one fundamental in a world of insignificant nothings, (in the words of Isabella Walsh): Mavis and Dorcas are neighbours, she and Izzy are second cousins, Lily and her sat next to each other in their first ever potions class and Mary and Mavis's reserved natures created an instant bond between the two girls. If Mavis wasn't there, the group would not be the tight-knit-bordering-on-family that they are. But above all that, Mavis is, along with Lily (on occasion) the voice of reason, the stereotypical young-wise-old-lady, the intimate for every problem and the only calm one when Dorcas and Izzy get themselves into a seemingly un-fixable situation.

Best Friend 4. Mary McDonald is the mother of the group. While Mavis may be the girl with the cool and sensible head, Mary is the one who tends to convince her friends to do the lawful action and not end up in detention. Organised down to the minute, prepared for every emergency, the early bird to class and always the last one to bed, Mary's prim and proper ways are often the downfall of some of Dorcas's more outrageous ideas, leading to frequent arguments between the two. Despite this, Dorcas will ALWAYS be the first one to stand up for Mary if someone calls her a prude and Mary will ALWAYS be the one to 'help' Dorcas with her homework after a long night of Quidditch training.

So how does Lily Evans fit into all of this you ask? Well, my dear reader, Lily, I guess, could be seen as a mixture of all four. The stubbornness of Dorcas, the compassion of Izzy, the thoughtfulness of Mavis tied neatly together with the need for order in her life, just like Mary, Lily Evans is, in theory, an immaculate package of superb qualities to make a truly remarkable human. But somehow, those careful and arranged descriptive words she loves so much, that structure and the precise list that defines her in every way always, always manage to escape her. No matter how much she tries for the painstaking tidiness in every aspect of her life that Mary had perfected, Lily's existence is and always has been, very messy. And though she tries, she really does, Lily's life is never going to be planned or perfected exactly the way she wants it. And I'm not saying it's because she isn't a truly remarkable human being, no, I'm saying that things happen and events transpire that makes our Lily Evans of 11 Wendt Avenue, a very interesting person.

…

"Ok, ok, ok." Lily sputtered out in an attempt to restore peace to the dormitory and to give her a few seconds to recover from the shock of four girls screaming at her. They stopped talking immediately and as Lily sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes, she found out why. Dorcas, Mary, Izzy and Mavis staring at her with an intensity she had only seen when they had all accidentally walked in on Sirius Black and Margaret Harris snogging in their fourth year. "Ok." Lily groaned. This is not something she wanted to do at seven in the morning. "Look, I didn't _mean_ to break his nose, it just kind of happened. It was in the moment of course. And really, he had it coming, you know?" Lily blurted. Looking hopefully at each face, she saw that her vague answer was not going to be enough.

Dorcas, ignoring Lily's ramble, started to question her fervently, "Lil, let's cut to the chase and get straight to the point. Did you or did you not, get him in a headlock and simultaneously kick him in the-"

"Dorcas, I beg you not to finish that weirdly passionate inquiry and let the poor girl stammer out a few more sentences before we start hitting her with the hard questions" Mary pleaded as she sat down on Lily's bed. The rest of the girls followed in suit, but Dorcas added a twist with a huff and a death stare at Mary.

"Lil, tell us what actually happened before Dorcas loses her marbles over here" Mary asked sincerely, with all, even Dorcas, nodding along in agreement.

"Erm, ok, but can I just say, it really wasn't that spectacular," Lily insisted, the other four girls rolling eyes.

"Lil, honestly just hurry up," Mavis exclaimed. The group's intrigue was getting the better of them.

"Ok yes, right, sorry about that. Ok so it started off with Mary telling me that Sev was outside the portrait. Anyway, I went down to see him, and told him that he had blown it, really, and to bugger off," Lily said, fiddling with her fingers. "I don't really want to talk about it, if that's ok with you guys?" Lily looked up, the four of them looking back at her with sympathetic eyes. "It's really not that important. I just can't," Lily said, eyes burning.

"It's alright Lil. Just whenever you're ready to talk about it," Izzy comforted, touching Lily's arm lightly.

"Thanks guys. I know you didn't really like him but, yeah. Shall I get back to the story?" Lily asked, trying to wipe her eyes inconspicuously, but failing. Luckily he friends didn't note upon this and all chose to promptly ignore the action. "Ok, good, so after Sev, I obviously and err, well, I basically starting to cry you know, and then Potter was there and I started really getting angry because, well, you saw what happened yesterday, and anyway, I think Mary, I threw your transfiguration book at him, sorry about that… and then I punched him and he fell over-".

"- Yeah we all saw that. Brilliant by the way Lil, brilliant I tell you." Izzy grinned, slapping her friend on the back excitedly.

"Honestly Lily, I didn't think you had it in you." Dorcas admitted, feeding off Izzy's enthusiasm with a smirk.

"Yes, well, I was mad, so, yes, anyway, I took him down to the Hospital Wing and Madame Pomfrey kept him there overnight and that was basically it." Lily finished. Her friends continued to gaze expectantly at her, as though the story was not over.

"That's it?!" Mary interrupted the silence loudly, making Lily jump slightly in her bed.

"Err, yes? I gave you the entire story, from start to end," Lily offered.

"No, what you gave us was a brief overview of what seems like a very poorly constructed lie. I, for one, feel that there is more to this than what you have unconvincingly presented," Mary declared, as though daring Lily to deny the statement.

"No offence, Lil, but come on: you 'took him down to the Hospital Wing'-" Izzy joked, not before getting shoved by Lily.

"I'm afraid to let you down, Mary, but that's it. Nothing more and nothing less. And Iz, I have told you over and over again, I hate Potter. I don't know why you constantly insist that there is something going on between-" Lily said quickly before Dorcas broke in.

"She's not insisting, she's inferring and I have her back 100%. No one can bicker with him that much and not have _some_ feelings of at least acquaintanceship towards him-"

"I believe you Lil" Mavis interjected. Dorcas turned to her, shock plastering her dark skin. "Dor, even you have to admit, Lily has spent the past five years detesting James, and publically at that, why on earth would she waste so much time and effort convincing us when, internally, she feels the opposite?" Mavis asked. Giving Lily an encouraging smile, Mavis waited until Lily was looking pointedly at Izzy before giving Dorcas a knowing wink. At this gesture Dorcas's mouth dropped, but before she could out her, Mavis inquired, "Shall we head off to breakfast, ladies?" and stood up, smoothing down her skirt.

"I'll be down as soon as I can; I just have to get dressed." Lily said, stretching and yawning, not noticing the silent battle that Mavis had just won. "Actually, quick question before you guys leave: you don't think I'll get detention, do you?" she said, optimism leaking out of her with every unsure glance at her friends.

"No-"

"Detention, pshhhh, what are you talking about-!?"

"Whaaat… no way-"

Lily nodded to no one in particular, as if accepting her fate. "Well, that's the nail on the coffin. First Potter, now you guys-"

"So there IS more to the story?!" Dorcas mocked, although her tone hinted at extreme interest.

"Don't push it Dor. And anyway, now is not the time to discuss my conversations with Potter. Later maybe." Lily responded with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"So tonight it is." Izzy decided for her. Lily scoffed in alarm. Later was supposed to be never. Nevertheless, Izzy pushed past the disdain. "Dorcas and I can steal some food from the kitchens. And since yesterday was the last exam, you don't have to study Astronomy with Remus tonight. There's no getting out of Boy-Whisper-Wednesday this time Lily. Everyone in?" Izzy asked, suddenly turning business-like. An almost unanimous settlement was reached (Mary gave a prickly glare at Izzy, disapproving the thievery, but was still in agreeance of breaking down Lily's encounter with James, and Lily straight up said no), and being a majority vote, "sorry Lils", the arranged meeting time to be at the dormitory and in pyjamas was 9:00pm.

"Alright, Mavis, shall we head off to breakfast. Mary? Iz?-"

"I'll wait for Lily, you guys head down. Hey Dor, save us a seat yeah?" Izzy called as they headed out of the room. Finally alone with Lily, Izzy spun around to face her best friend and smiled wickedly at her before theatrically falling onto her bed.

"You know, it's been two years since I've been to a Boy-Whisper-Wednesday?" said Lily, ignoring the grin from Izzy.

"I know! How exciting for you Lily. I think you'll find that they have changed a lot since you last attended a meeting. I know we give you the de-briefs, but they're just not the same" Izzy said, now re-doing her tie. "And now the meetings are much, _much_ naughtier," she said to Lily, who was feigning a disgusted look.

"That is exactly why I avoid them at all costs. My time is much better spent studying. I'm actually surprised Mary goes," Lily said, slipping on her skirt and tucking in her shirt.

"Lily, you tell me that practically every day. And Mary is actually the most invested member," Izzy said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Apart from you?"

"Yes, well, there needed to be a leader and I stepped up to the challenge," Izzy stated, rising from her bed and began to walk absentmindedly around the dorm room. Lily, doing her hair the vanity mirror watched Izzy's reflection wander around the room. Tall, but not too tall, slender but not skinny, blonde but not dumb, with ocean blue-green eyes and freckles carelessly sprinkled on her nose and cheeks, Izzy was your stereotypical beautiful girl, inside and out. Clever, ruthlessly pragmatic and above all, kind beyond measure, Isabella Walsh had it all.

Lily turned back to her own reflection, slightly deflated. While Izzy looked slim, Lily looked knobby. Lily's eyes were a petrifying shade of green that clashed horribly with her flaming red hair, place skin and practically sprayed-on freckles; she was certainly not Izzy (again, her words, not mine).

"Lil, are you ready to go?" Izzy asked, suspending Lily's train of thought.

"Oh, yes, sorry, alright let's head off-"

"Before we do, I just wanted to tell you something," Izzy said seriously, voice, for some reason, dropping an octave.

"Why do you always talk lower when you are grim? It's weird," Lily poked.

"What would you rather, me do it, or not do it?" Izzy questioned.

"Err, I literally just said don't-"

"Ok, we don't have time for this. Look, when Dorcas went down to the showers this morning, she heard from some sixth year Ravenclaw that apparently you sent James Potter to St Mungo's and were currently running loose on the grounds".

"Wha-"

"Dor obviously said that it was a lie and threatened to hex them if they continued to spread that rumour. You know what Dorcas is like though, she probably did hex them" Izzy paused upon seeing the look of horror on Lily's face. "But I'm just warning you that people are going to be talking today and you might, well, hear some things" Izzy finished.

"Are you being serious?" Lily said, panicking slightly.

"Yes. Yes I am" Izzy answered.

"I can't go out there! Shit, what am I going to do?!" Lily wailed, turning towards her bed.

Grabbing her by the shoulders and steering her towards the doorway, Izzy said firmly "Lil, honestly get a grip. You're bigger than this. And you know what, screw 'em. If that's the only thing that they have to talk about, a crazy sixteen year old girl who may or may not have set James Potter's head on fire, then forget about them."

"Is that what the Ravenclaw said I did!?" Lily asked, dismay and disbelief washing over her body.

"Err, no that was another rumour Mary heard, actually-"

"No, no nope-"

" _Come on._ Let's walk to breakfast with our heads held high, and our chests puffed out to make our boobs look bigger," Izzy laughed, now forcing Lily to walk arm in arm with her, as they climbed down the staircase into the Common Room and out of the portrait.

"I am _not_ doing that-"

"You're not doing what Lily Flower?" a voice said as they awkwardly climbed out of the portrait hole, still arm in arm (Izzy insisted).

Stumbling, both from the ungraceful exit and the shock of hearing none other than Sirius Black's voice, Izzy and Lily endeavoured to recover. Izzy, being the most polished person Lily knew, had a slight stagger, but managed to keep herself upright, and completed the little performance with a bow at Sirius. Meanwhile Lily, being the clumsiest person she knew, went sprawling, garnering laughter from passing students. Sirius acknowledged Izzy's enactment with a hearty round of applause and a quick, yet vigorous handshake, which was followed by him wandering over to Lily with a smug, yet concerned look on his face, stopping and offering a hand to the red-faced girl lying on the floor.

"Well, Lily, I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that. Quite a presentation you put on there. I rate it an 8 out of 10. The ending could have been more refined, but overall, highly entertaining," Sirius said rather frankly, despite the grin on his face.

"Yes, well, I figured, if I'm the gossip target for the day, I may as well go all in," Lily assured Sirius, taking his hand and hoisting herself up, only for him to spin her into his arms. "Very funny, Black. Now let me go," she hissed, keenly aware of the stares they were getting.

"I thought you wanted to go all in-"

"I changed my mind," Lily replied, face getting redder by the second.

"Ok, ok, but only because I can see Walshy over here getting a tad jealous-"

"Black I dare you to finish that sentence. See what happens when I tell Dorcas. Need I remind you what happened last time?" Izzy said innocently. "Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you stopped calling me Walshy. Please," she requested, batting her eyes sarcastically.

"Oh, Izzy, you always know how to scare a boy," Sirius mocked, walking with his hands in his pockets with the girls down towards the Great Hall.

"You flatter me Sirius," Izzy said sarcastically.

"Now there's an excellent segue, thank you Walshy. Lily, from the reports I'm hearing, and the actual conversation I had with James, you had a very interesting night last night. Care to talk?" Sirius asked, no hint of a smile or a joke, yet somehow Lily could tell he was enjoying himself.

"First of all Sirius, you have no idea what the word segue means or how to use it correctly in context. Next time you try and use the word segue, make sure it actually works. Secondly, no, I do not care to talk," Lily breathed, each word urgent and quiet, as she balanced the fine line of anger and discretion. The further away from the Gryffindor tower they got, the more people were milling around, all heading towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Thank you for the grammar lesson, Lily Flower. I welcome your criticism with open arms, but I'll admit I'm a little disappointed you won't talk… not even about the fact you 'accidentally' called him James," Sirius responded, just loud enough for the group of 3rd years walking just ahead of them to hear.

"You _what_!?" Izzy gasped, gaping at her best friend whose face, which had begun to turn back to its natural colour, was now going a very violent shade of red.

"Thanks a lot Black. Shout a little louder next time, I don't think they heard you in Hogsmeade," Lily snapped at Sirius. "Look, I was very, _very,_ angry and I wasn't thinking properly. Like I would ever call Potter by his first name in real life," Lily argued, trying to remain calm despite the whispers and looks she was getting from her fellow students.

"Lily Evans that _was_ real life-"

"You know what I meant, you idiot," Lily retorted, glowering at the relaxed Sirius.

"Bullocks! I've taken James' place as Evans's innocent victim of the day-"

"I do not 'have' victims-"

"What do you call the attack on James last night then? He's a victim-"

"Attack?! Rubbish. It was retribution!"

"Retribution? For what… Asking you out on a date-?"

"No, for him repeatedly embarrassing me in front of-"

"Embarrassing you? No, Evans that only made you even more popular, that, along with the Black-Evans Hogwarts Dash. You're welcome, by the way-"

"First of all, Black, it was _humiliating_ and you have absolutely no right to dismiss-"

"I wasn't dismissing it, I was merely-"

"SECOND of all, I'm _welcome_!? It was neither James's obsession with asking me out, or your odd friendship with me that has made me well-liked by my peers, it's my-"

"No, you're right Evans, you're not popular. No cool person says peers-"

"They could!"

"But they don't. And maybe it's not James, or Remus or Peter, or even me, though it really does break my heart to say it-"

"Oh, give me a break-"

" _But,_ being friends with Dorcas and Izzy certainly gave you a step in the door," Sirius said, eyeing Izzy as he did so. Izzy, while the two of them were at each other's throats, was simply walking as though in a daze, beside the two.

…

Dear reader, it may not seem like a big deal, or even something worth mentioning at all, but for Lily Evans to call James Potter by his first name, even though it may have been completely accidental, unintentional; something that happened in the heat of the moment, to Isabella Walsh, it was, perhaps, the biggest step forward to ever happen for anything ever. Her reaction was really, disproportionate to the thought running through her head. And that, dear reader, was how the end of Hogwarts' largest underground bet started. For as bad as it may seem, Izzy had capitialised on the gamble early on, and remained, to the morning after James Potter got his nose broken by Lily Evans, one of the larger investors in the bet. And it would seem, that now, the odds were changing, through an entirely accidental name-call.

…

They had reached the Great Hall. Lily and Sirius, still bickering about the reason behind Lily's popularity, and Izzy, still mulling over in her head, what the consequence of the name-call could mean; all three of them not noticing the attention they were getting from everyone in the hall. It was only when Lily turned her concentration away from Sirius to look for Dorcas, Mary and Mavis that she realised the hushed undertones, and the fascinated glances she was getting from just about everybody present.

"Well Evans, if you weren't popular before, you definitely are now," Sirius whispered in her ear. Smiling at her, he sauntered off to where Remus, Peter and James were sitting.

"Izzy!" Lily said frantically to her best friend. Izzy, unresponsive, was swiftly brought out of her daze with a shake from Lily. 'Iz! He's here! I can't talk to him! Oh, and great, look where Dorcas chose to sit. Right next to them," Lily cried softly, trying to keep her voice low so that people wouldn't have even more to talk about.

"Lil, do you now remember what I said? Chins high, and boobs pushed out," and with that, Izzy grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her towards their seats. Izzy, taking one for the team, sat next to James and yanked Lily's arm down, forcing her to sit.

"Hi, James!" Izzy said cheerfully. "Remus, Peter, how are you?" she asked. Although she was covering for Lily, her energy was not out of place for her character. Lily, however, who had still not recovered from the suddenness of Izzy's actions, sat silently, rubbing her arm and looking at her lap, bringing as little attention to herself as possible. _If I can make it through this breakfast without any mishaps, then order will be restored to the universe,_ Lily thought to herself, still looking down.

This was, however, her downfall, really, refusing to even momentarily glance upwards. Because as she sat there, listening to Izzy's rather dull conversation with Peter, Professor McGonagall was marching towards where she was seated, eyes going between her and James, who was also not looking around, only at Lily, with a confused look on his face.

"Mr Potter and Miss Evans, sorry to disturb your breakfast but I require your presence elsewhere immediately," Professor McGonagall requested, a hard look on her face. Both James and Lily, slightly startled by the order, and surprised by the severity of the statement, sat in the places for a few seconds, as McGonagall, who was now clearly angry judging by her refusal to wait for them to get up, walked towards the Great Hall entrance. Now the hall was excited. Kids were starting to stand in their places to see what James and Lily would do, whispering heatedly to each other as Lily and James looked at each other, shock barely concealed, and slowly but surely got out of their seats. And in usual James Potter fashion, he took the anticipation in the room and used it to his advantage. He climbed onto his seat and took a bow to the crowd.

And applause broke out.

 **THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING THIS! Please, please, please comment... it really makes my day when I see lovely comments! Like I said last chapter though, if you have any issues or criticisms, I beg you to leave a message... that's the only way I'm going to get better. Thank you to _marauding-mischief78_ for their comments, it meant the absolute world to me: I thank you for you kindness. Have a legendary day everyone and I will see you soon.**


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